Trinkets

by Xepher

Chapter 1

Trinkets
by Xepher

The smell of several different glues hung in the warm afternoon air, the appliqués and other finishing touches drying on their frames in the boutique.

Rarity, her mouth full of pins, moved to fix a ribbon on yet another hat she was creating for her new fall line. She took a moment to glance at the clock, seeing it was nearly six, and time to close up for the day. Not that she'd had many customers here between seasons, but the clock was a way to remind her to keep on schedule... and when she could take a break. A few more minutes, and she could rest easily, knowing she'd put in a true, full day's worth of work.

The bells above the door ting-tinged as it opened, and the sound of small hoofsteps followed.

"Don't forget to wipe your hooves, Sweetie!"

But instead of Sweetie Belle's familiar grumbling, an unknown voice responded. "Sorry, miss..." Rarity set down her work and went to the door.

There was a young filly, about Sweetie's age, but with a grey coat and a piece of silverware for a cutie mark. Rarity recognized the young one as Silver Spoon, one of her sister's "arch enemies" as Sweetie put it. The little filly was sniffling though, and holding some sort of broken jewelry in front of her.

"Well, darling," Rarity said, her voice full of kindness. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I... I need to find a way to fix this... before... before the dance tonight." She held up what seemed to be a broken tiara. It was snapped into two pieces, and bent slightly.

Taking the pieces in her aura, Rarity examined them. "Come on in, and tell me what happened, dear." She led the filly back into her workspace.

"Diamond and I were... were walking, and then..." She paused to wipe her nose on her fetlock. "Well, I think Diamond lost it when we ducked under this tree branch, and then... then I stepped on it."

"Oh, that is a shame." Rarity said. "But why the tears? It's just an accident."

"Diamond said... she said it was my fault, with my big dumb hooves, and if I didn't get it fixed before the dance tonight, she'd never be my friend again."

Rarity's ears laid back at that. She knew Diamond Tiara was a bit of a spoiled brat, and didn't get along with Sweetie and her friends at all. Foals were like that. But Silver Spoon was supposedly one of her friends. If she treated even her friends that way... well, that was just sad.

"Well, dear, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at repairing jewelry. I mostly do fashion and clothing. Have you tried one of the jewelry shops?"

"I ran there first... but... but they just laughed at me, told me it wasn't worth their time to fix. But, Diamond loves this, and said it's way too valuable, as it has so many diamonds in it and stuff."

Rarity looked closer at the broken tiara. The "diamonds," while plentiful, were nothing more than cut glass, and the "silver" was rubbing off, revealing nothing but cheap copper underneath. She kept this to herself however.

"Well, yes, it is certainly a... 'unique' piece."

"I'm sorry, miss... miss Rarity. I just know you make pretty things, and you know a lot about gems and stuff. I thought maybe you might know how to fix it, or have something to replace it."

"I am terribly sorry, Silver, but I'm afraid I don't really carry jewelry of this 'quality.'"

"What about that one?" Silver pointed at a tiara atop the head of a dress form.

Rarity followed her hoof, and saw she was looking at Twilight Sparkle's coronation tiara. It wasn't the one that had housed the Element of Magic, but it was still a rather valuable piece of actual jewelry, belonging to a Princess.

"I'm afraid that one is already spoken for."

"I can pay you! My dad has lots of money. I know he'd buy it for me if he was here!"

Heart aching, Rarity sat down, so she was eye to eye with the filly. "Silver, listen to me... You can't buy friends."

"I... I know that, but I..." Silver Spoon dug for reasons to justify her actions. "But I broke it, so I have to replace it. That's just the right thing to do."

"Well, that is certainly very noble, but it sounds to me like you're just making excuses for your friend's ill-tempered behavior."

Silver sniffled again. "Diamond isn't that bad, really. She just, she just gets picky about her things, that's all. And I... I don't have any other friends."

"And you think that bringing her a new tiara is the only way to keep her as your friend?"

The filly wasn't dumb, Rarity could see. It was clear she knew friendship wasn't supposed to work like that, but she sympathized with the foal as well. It can sometimes be all too easy to get caught up in bad habits and unhealthy relationships, and all too difficult to break free.

"I... I know, Miss Rarity." Silver Spoon admitted after a moment. "But... she's all I have. I... I can't lose that. And I don't want her to be alone either."

Scrunching up her face in thought, Rarity took a deep breath and sighed. "Well—"

The two were interrupted by the sound of bells above the door.

"I'm sorry," Rarity called, demurely. "But we're closed for the day!"

"Well, I guess I'll just go spend the night at Apple Bloom's then," Sweetie Belle yelled back, as the door opened again. "See you tomorrow!'

"Oh no you don't, Sweetie! You've got chores and homework to do!"

"Awww, but Sis..." The whine was accompanied by the sound of clomping hooves as Sweetie rounded the entryway into the main shop area.

Sweetie's eyes went wide when she saw Silver Spoon standing there. "What the f—"

"Sweetie!" Rarity yelled, seeing the state her sister was in, covered up to her barrel in mud and grass. "Go back outside and wash all that filth off!"

"But..."

"Now!"

Turning, Sweetie Belle departed, muttering under her breath, "In, out, in, out... sheesh, make up your mind!"

"What was that?" Rarity asked.

"Nothing."

"Good, it better not be. We'll talk after you're done."

The door slammed a little louder than was strictly necessary.

"I'm sorry about that deary," Rarity said, turning back to Silver Spoon, "Usually we don't fight so much."

"It's... It's okay. At least you have each other to even fight with."

Ah yes, Rarity thought, that's where we were. The filly so lonely she's willing to jump any hoop just to keep the one abusive friend she has.

"How long until this dance of yours?" Rarity asked.

"Umm, it starts at eight."

Nope, no way to fix the tiara before then, and the costume supply stores in Canterlot were well more than that round trip away. Rarity sighed, then smiled, mind made up. Turning, she walked over to the dress form and lifted the tiara off of it.

"Are you sure Diamond would be happy with this one? It's quite a bit different than her old one, though it is, if I may be so bold, perhaps a bit nicer."

"Oh, yes ma'am! I'm sure she'd love it. It is very pretty. It looks like it could even belong to a princess or something!"

Rarity couldn't keep a slight smirk from forming at the corners of her mouth. If only she knew...

"Well, then I suppose the only way to resolve things is for you to take this one to her before then, yes?"

"Are you sure?" Silver said, hesitantly taking the offered tiara. "You said it was already spoken for."

"Oh, don't worry about that. It belongs to one of my favorite clients, yes, but I'm quite certain she would understand once she knew a friendship was at stake." She was, Rarity thought to herself, the Princess of Friendship, after all.

"Thank you so much! How much is it going to cost? I need to tell my dad how much to pay you."

The businesspony in Rarity had the number pegged on the spot, even though this particular tiara had never been for sale. It was a fairly significant sum of bits. She knew that the filly's parents were probably good for it, but...

"As it's not mine to sell, I'm afraid I can't put a price on it. How about we consider it a favor, and I ask you to do me a favor in return?"

"Umm..." Silver Spoon looked uncertain. In her experience, money solved most all problems. Having to actually do something felt strange. But there was a small part of her that also thought it felt right. A gift should be something from the giver, not just bought by her parents. "I guess so. What do you want?"

"I would like you to make me a promise."

Silver thought she knew where this was going. "I suppose you want me to promise to be nice to your sister and her weird friends?"

This got a very unlady-like snort of laughter from Rarity. "Oh, dear me! While I do love my sister, I dare say she sometimes deserves what she gets."

Silver Spoon wasn't sure what to make of that. "But don't you care about her?"

"Oh, more than anything in the world!"

"But then..."

"Sisters are a lot like friends. We love each other dearly, but... well, sometimes we can't stand each other either. Good friends—and good sisters—learn to work around that. You can be friends with somepony without liking everything they do."

"Then what is it you want me to promise?"

"My little pony, I want you to promise to be yourself."

Silver quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I think you want to be a lot nicer than you are when you're around Diamond Tiara. It sounds to me like you wish you had more friends than just her."

"Umm, I guess I kind of do, but no pony wants to be friends with me."

"Are you so sure about that? Are you sure it's you they dislike? Or is it perhaps that they don't like who you're always with, or what you do when you're together?"

"You mean teasing and stuff?"

"Yes, precisely that. Is that really something you enjoy, or is it just something you do because Diamond is cajoling you into it?"

Silver hung her head.

"I thought so." Rarity reached down and lifted the filly's chin with a hoof. "But it doesn't have to be that way, and I think you already kind of know that."

Starting to sniffle again, Silver Spoon pleaded, "But what else can I do?"

With a kind smile, Rarity answered, "Anything you want. And if I might be so bold to suggest a place to start, perhaps just try being nice to some other foals for a change. You might be surprised how easy it is to make friends if you just put in a little effort."

"But... I'm not sure I know how."

Rarity smiled warmly, "it's as simple as that promise. Just be yourself. You can do that, can't you?"

"Maybe..."

"Can you promise me you'll try?"

Silver Spoon took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, I promise."

"That's all I could ask. Now, you'd better hurry along. I'm sure you need to go get dressed before the dance!"

Looking at the clock, Silver Spoon realized she would have to hurry to make it on time, and darted for the door. She then paused right at the threshold and turned back. "Thank you, Miss Rarity."

The door slammed, and jingled again a moment later.

Rarity turned back toward the door, and found a sopping wet (but clean) Sweetie Belle, dripping water all over the foyer.

"Why in the world was Silver Spoon running off with Twilight's crown?"

"I gave it to her to replace Diamond Tiara's broken one. And it's not a crown, it's a tiara."

"You gave it to her?!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "But she's like, the worst!"

"Says the filly getting water all over my wood floor!"

"But that's—"

"Not an accident and you know it. You deliberately made sure to get as soaked as possible before coming back inside."

"I..." Sweetie trailed off, her "but I did exactly what you said" rebellion now seeming a bit churlish even to her.

Rarity just stared.

"I'm sorry, Sis."

"I know you are, and I also know you're going to mop it up."

Sweetie opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it.

"But why the crown?"

Rarity moved to hug her sister, water and all. "I love you Sweetie, you know that, right?"

"Umm, yeah."

"But imagine if no one really loved you."

"Ooookay..."

"Now imagine that the one pony that even pretended to be your friend said they'd stop if you didn't replace some stupid little trinket."

"Riiight... But that was a real crown... err... tiara. That wasn't just a trinket."

"Compared to a filly's anguish at just the potential of absolute loneliness? Why Sweetie, compared to that, all the gold in Saddle Arabia wouldn't be even a glimmer on the cheapest costume bangle."

Sweetie Belle stood in silence for a moment, contemplating the heartfelt words from her sister, the only sound the drip-drip of water on the floor.

"She's that lonely?"

Rarity nodded.

This time, it wasn't just water starting to drip from Sweetie's eyes. She leaned in and hugged her older sister. "Thank you for being such a great sister, and I'm sorry I'm so stubborn sometimes."

"I can be pretty stubborn as well," Rarity admitted with a grin. "That's how I know we're sisters."

"I love you!" Sweetie said.

"I love you too," Rarity said, then pulled away, wiping her own eyes with her now-wet fetlocks. "Now go get the mop!"

Comments

[Just another hoerse love]

The feels are to much. This feels like an episode good job!

[Telaros]

It's the same song and dance. I suppose we'll have to deal with these types of Silver Spoon stories until the show does something to give her some actual characterization to either dispel these types or reinforce it, I suppose. Because I still can't see any correlation between show and this more common fanon interpretation of her.

Well, it certainly went a different route with Rarity. Though I guess that ending will probably open up doorsbetween Sweetie and Silver if you ever make another Silver story?

Well, not much else to say. There are good lessons in this one compared to some of the ones in the same pool as this.

[Seether00]

DT is a butt.

[horizon]

Oh, hey, I remember this one from the Writeoff. Sincere and not overly preachy is a good combination for a filly-bully redemption fic. Nicely executed.

[Xepher]

6247704 6248046 Thanks! Yeah, I can't believe it's half a year since that contest. I kept meaning to rewrite this in more detail, but... the passion just wasn't there like it was for new stories, so I told myself to just get it out there and move on!

6247918 She is generally portrayed as such, yes. Though I actually think she's redeemable too (see today's update to The Hole in the Sun.)

6247865 Fair point... this isn't exactly stretching the bounds of originality here, I know that. I'm glad you found some redeeming elements in it though. My thoughts in this were more about how, from a kid's perspective, the bullies are evil, but from a grown up's perspective (Rarity) they're just the same as other children. Sweetie not understanding how her sister can be nice to her "enemy" was meant to be the focus.

[Hillbe]

Mop? Lets get Spike to do it.
Sweetie how coul...
Spike would kiss your hooves if you let him!
Oh ?
!!!!
Spike what happened?
hoofin mouth.

[felisimar]

Wow. This is very touching and feels real. Like an episode, yes.

[Aotrs Commander]

6248093

I concur. DT is one of the few antagonist characters I actually CAN buy being "redeemed." (Not like, for instance, Sombra, and I'm still no ore than 50% convinced on Discord...) She is ultimately still a child and sometimes but not all the time) life has a way of making people mature. To mix my fandoms, I can see DT as being a bit of a Cordelia from Buffy. (In fact, wasn't Buffy herself in that mould before she became a Slayer? It's been a VERY long time since I saw the original movie.) In my own mind, I believe that if DT was subjected to something that put it all in perspective (like really serious business, the sort that leaves an effect on you), she'd probably come around quite quickly.

(Conversely, of course, I also believe it's plausible she could grow up to be worst form of nasty harridan, as bad as the worst of Prince Blueblood.)

[Xepher]

6248150 I think Rarity is well aware of how she manipulates Spike. But this was Sweetie's mess.

6248588 Thank you! As I noted before, I feel like it's not quite up to my full standards, but I got worn out trying to rework it. I love the core ideal in the story (the same way I love the ideals in most of the show episodes) but I wish I'd figured out a way to kick it up an extra notch. Next story though!

6250439 Yeah, she could go either way, like most children. But I think for me, one of the important lessons I learned as a kid was seeing my own parents be nice to some kid that bullied me, and, more strangely (at the time) how that kid was perfectly respectful to my parents. It was probably the first time I truly realized that a lot of things important to a kid don't matter to grown ups, and (unlike video games and legos) that could actually be a BETTER thing.

[felisimar]

6251047 I understand what you're talking about, sometimes I also have this feeling. But the "ideal" is called so for a reason, maybe there will always be a feeling that you can write better. That's why (it was very long ago) I once tried to rewrite a story 8 times and then stopped writing it. Improvement is a good thing but sometimes you just need to stop yourself. :D

[PatchworkPoltergeist]

6247865
True, but this is one of the better versions I've seen of it. I think it might be the only time I've seen it and it didn't bug me. It feels earned and supported, not just a pale excuse for redemption. Silver's lonely, but she still has her personality Plus...yeah, I can see Diamond pulling the old "I won't be your friend anymore" card. In my experience, kids like Diamond tend to pull that card a lot and it's almost always a hollow threat used for a quick fix to get one's way. A dick move, but also a very childish move.
I also really like the addition of Silver still thinking money can solve all her problems, too. Plus, even if she's not 100% on board with teasing folks, that still doesn't mean she likes Sweetie and her weirdo friends, even under the circumstances. Like I said, it's not a full 180 degree turn, she's still Silver Spoon.
Speaking of Sweetie, her voice is fantastic here.

"In, out, in, out... sheesh, make up your mind!"

It's a small bit of dialogue, but it's just so her.

[Telaros]

6254242 Yup. Hence the "Well, not much else to say. There are good lessons in this one compared to some of the ones in the same pool as this." bit at the end.

Though I felt the very end did milk it a tad, at least Sweetie got the picture.
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130625191331/onepiece/images/d/d3/Robin_Says_She_Wants_to_Live.png
(Silver Spoon is Nico Robin. She wants to friendship, but, she doesn't know how!)

Also the bit that made Silver feel like she wasn't all too keen to befriend the cutie mark crusaders showed at least she's not too desperate. I guess she's just not that type of rough and tumble pony, at least going by this fic. And that Rarity made that point that sort of harkens, if unintentionally, that even if she doesn't approve of all the things Sweetie does that annoy her, it doesn't mean they can't be close because you don't have to like what someone does to get along together. Something which seems to show that Rarity doesn't blame Silver for who she decides to be friends with. A nice contrast that seems to be what keeps Silver in this story stuck on Diamond. They do make fun of ponies, but it doesn't bother Silver enough to speak out against it.

The only thing, though, is that the story does go into that assumption mode. Rarity not seeing it as a hollow threat, assuming Silver is likely treated potentially just as bad as Rarity's sister. The 'unique' tiara Diamond wears being very gaudy and cheap. Rarity certainly didn't stop to think maybe the fight could have been over not so much the worth Diamond perhaps placed on the all too fake and gaudy trinket. Not see it as possibly anything other then a simple fight over Silver breaking something that Diamond apparently holds more dear to her then Silver's friendship, which seems like it to be the monetary value.

The focus was supposed to be on Sweetie Belle, I guess, but that really only came at the very end. Though Sweetie Belle had some very Sweetie moments, especially when she did something I think many of us would have done in her place, too, which I just couldn't help but smile at. But it's not that the story offends sensibilities here. The story does have a few lessons wrapped up in one package, but it still felt uneasy to read the thoughts of the Rarity at times. They got distracting.

Fic could have been better if we merely got shown the story, not given opinions and assumptions, focuse more on why Silver felt so sorry for something that is only really implied important to Diamond without saying anything other then what is percieved as being 'very expensive'. The act of breaking something that was important to a friend you really cared about who felt really angry and hurt that it was broken. Things possibly said in anger to lead Silver Spoon to feel desperate to prove she's sorry, no matter the cost. Hollow threats or not.

But, no, there was no thoughts about how this trinket could be drenched in any form of sentimental value, nope. Not like it could have been the last gift her mother may have given Diamond before the divorceof her parents/death of her mother. Not that Diamond would likely share such embarrassing/secret details (possibly?) as to why she's so upset over such a gaudy piece of jewelry, she probably knows it's fake or implied too gullible or prideful to admit otherwise. Instead we get a piece of jewelery that may as well been a part of some cheap Nightmare Night princess costume based on Rarity's disgust for the item.

I wanted to see Silver's sincerity. See her worry about losing a friend, which we got. But it derailed into the usual 'no pony wants to be my friend' and 'Di was my *only* option, how do I friendship?' route. Which could have still very much worked, but there is something just really hard to swallow about how it was delivered.

(Silver's so lonely. Miss lonely. She's got no Diamond to call her own.)

Despite some of the tone, it really is better than the average crop of those in the same camp. Especially as far as one-shots go. It was just a short one-shot about learning that real friendships can't be bought. Among others. And honestly, if the Diamond in this story doesn't take the time out of her temper tantrum to see how upset she made Silver, and that Silver went above and beyond to replace something fake with something not just more real but quite obviously a real royal tiara, then yeah, she really doesn't deserve Silver Spoon in this universe.

I guess, in my case, it's just that it's 2015 and I can literally count in one hand fics that branch out from these retellings. Though Silver's feelings felt more believable, it made her out to be as if she's only friends with Diamond because she had zero choice in the matter. And that's really the part that just feels wrong, in my opinion. We all have choices. We all start somewhere. They were friends long before either got their cutie marks. Which, not counting the CMC, appear to have gotten theirs after the other fillies and colts in the class. Did they really just bully everypony? Or did their status of being from rich families make parents tell their kids to avoid befriending Silver and Diamond?

I used to be told I couldn't be friends with some people by others for various reasons or another, and rather trite in my opinion. So I can see how Silver COULD have a hard time befriending others, especially if her own upbringing made her out to be seen as weird or boring to other fillies and colts. Heh, you seem to show that off well in your story, come to think of it. How is the next chapter to "The Silver Standard" going by the way?

Be that as it may, I don't hate this story. But it could have been better presented in some areas to further strengthen a few lessons on how one should be treated and how to see even pull away from a toxic relationship (platonic or otherwise), which for the most part this story did do a good enough job at. It just had bumps that made it hard to be moved. I got the premise, the concept is nice. But the execution could have been better. Sweetie Belle was the highlight in the story for me, as well as the two lessons Rarity emparts near the end.

Oh, dear. I promised myself to keep to a short reply, too.

---

@Xepher: If you read this, take it with a grain of salt. Not like you wrote this to please everyone, we're both aware of that, and I still very much enjoy your other works in that Alt Universe tale with the CMC. Hope you placed well in the writeoff, or good luck if it's still going on. I've not recently been keep up with those seeing how overly frequent those have been getting.

[Xepher]

6254718
6254242

Wow, thanks for the spirited debate you guys! Nothing an author likes more than people talking about their work!

Telaros: No worries at all about any "negative" comments or anything. I take no offense at all. You have valid reasons for what you say, and frankly, I'm quite glad to see someone even taking the time to properly criticize.

Poltergeist: I'd forgotten about that line of dialog. I remember when I wrote that, thinking it was one of my favorite parts. Sweetie in a huff is just... well, hilarious and cute. I need more of that next time, and let the object lesson be a bit less anvilicious I think.

[boygenius2020]

Nice one dude!